ON MY OWWWWWWWWWWWWN

[Jack Holloway]

So everything seemed to be a bit crap right now, what with Mel being sworn to hatred of him and him being too stubborn to grovel. He guessed he could have grovelled, but it just made him angry that she wouldn't believe him, and Jack Holloway did not apologise if he didn't think he had to. Hell, sometimes he didn't apologise when he knew he probably should.

Dropping onto the grass by the lake and crossing his legs beneath him, he sighed as he began searching for stones to hurl into the water. Why wasn't she believing him? Throwing a stone at the lake a little more violently (and misjudging where it would land) it hit a rock and bounced back off of it, soaring over Jack's head and in the direction of another person.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet to check if the person was okay. "I'm so sorry - Sky?"

[Sky Rider]

Sky didn't know what the hell he had done, but he had somehow pissed off the Universe. Why else would he constantly be running into Jack Holloway?

He was just minding his own business, revising for Miss Coleko's class, by the lake. Then he got hit by a rock. A frickin' rock.

"Ow!"

Sky's hand flew up to his shoulder where the rock had hit him, a dull pain settling there. He glanced up at the sound of someone apologizing. Jack fuckin' Holloway.

Of course.

"Jack," Sky said in acknowledgement. He didn't really dislike him, but it just felt strange to talk to him. They had had a sort of rivalry when Sky had dated Mel, but, well, now he wasn't dating Mel.

"What's up?" he asked, noticing that Jack looked...different. He didn't know him well enough to ask what was wrong (Hell, he didn't know him well enough to know what he normally looked like), so he settled for a generic question that hopefully wouldn't be answered with "you".

Those jokes got old really fast.

[Jack Holloway]

It wasn't as if Jack disliked Sky. He just wasn't that sure he liked him either. Old habits stuck fast and Sky had punched him once. Mind you, so had most people.

Most people hadn't dated Mel though, had they? He knew he should have gotten over that, but he held a grudge like no one else he knew. Still, he wasn't dating Mel anymore, was he? They were on equal ground now.

It was kind of difficult to dislike someone when they were being so nice to you, though, Jack thought miserably. "Um, nothing," he replied, trying to smile and failing abysmally. "Everything," he mumbled in a reconsideration, before trying to look normal about things. Sky didn't want to have to deal with Jack, and Jack didn't want an even more difficult time hating Sky.

Still, he had just damages him. "Is your face okay, mate?"

[Sky Rider]

Sky wasn't stupid, nor was he dimwitted like his crimson classmates. He knew that the topic he wanted to broach wasn't a welcome one. However, that didn't mean he wasn't curious.

"Yeah, 's'fine," Sky said, shrugging. "Y'know, I'm used to it and all...rocks go flying all the time. Hit me like a frickin' stone magnet."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, trying to figure out a way to introduce the topic his mind was puzzling over.

He didn't even know why he cared if Jack was having a possible midlife crisis in his midteens. He was just a guy. He had no significance to Sky.

"So, you wanna talk about it?"

Yeah, no.

"So, how's Mel?" he asked instead, thinking it was a (somewhat) safe subject. "I haven't talked to her since...a while."

[Jack Holloway]

Ugh. Why was this guy so likeable? Jack couldn't help but smile at his joke, before he shrugged and lifted his eyes to meet the other boy's. "Well, you know, my nose is a fist magnet apparently. For the life of me I can't imagine why." Ugh. Stop joking with Sky.

Still, he bit his lip, trying to shrug again (and failing due to the fact that his shoulders had tensed quite considerably) as he enquired after Mel. How was Mel? That was s bloody good wuestion if ever there was one.

"She..." he began, biting his lip again. "Yeah, she's okay, man. Haven't really... Spoken to her in a while... Or something." He'd had one conversation and that had been an argument. Gosh, this was pathetic. Gosh he was feeling sorry for himself.

And poor old Sky seemed to be in flooding distance.

[Sky Rider]

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," Sky chuckled, scratching his arm as he recalled the time that he punched the bloke. "What can I say? 'Muscle spasm'?"

Apparently, Mel wasn't a "safe" topic. Who knew that talking about your exgirlfriend who just so happened to be Jack's best friend/possible girlfriend was a definite no-no?

"Oh. Right," Sky said, feeling anxious. Jack wasn't suddenly going to get all angsty and sobby and stuff, was he? He couldn't even handle a crying baby, how the hell was he supposed to handle a crying teenage boy? He had too much testosterone for that!

"That's...yeah." He was silent for a bit, staring out at the water of the lake. Now would've been a great time for his supposed 'tact' to come in handy. Sighing, he ran a resigned hand through his hair. "You can tell me about it if ya want. I honestly don't have anything better to do than play therapist."

What was that about tact again?

[Jack Holloway]

Jack had to laugh a little at that. Which was a weird feeling. Because he hadn't laughed in a while, and bloody hell he had never expected Sky Rider to make him grin. Never mind. "I seem to have that affect on people."

For a moment he froze at Sky's words. Then he tried to compose himself and not look too horrified at what had just hit him. Because this was a situation he had once again never expected to find himself in. And this was weird.

"Um..." he began, shuffling. Guys didn't discuss feelings, did they? But then, Sky was alright. "It's just, you know. She thinks... According to Mel, I did something that I didn't and I would never ever do but she won't believe me."

[Sky Rider]

A surprisingly bitter smile appeared on Sky's lips. "Yep, that sounds like Mel," he said, somewhat amused. "Remember my breakup?"

His mind flashed back to the whole misunderstanding that led to the end of their relationship and he couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. "She's so stubborn," he laughed, "but I guess that also means she's determined. Even if it does cost her friendships, it's kinda admirable."

Glancing over at Jack, Sky tried to sound reassuring. "Mel's a lot of things," stubborn, irritating, and temperamental, to name a few..., "but she's not stupid. She'll come around...eventually."

Since the whole situation in and of itself was foreign to Sky, he wasn't really sure whether what he was about to ask was appropriate or not, but, hey, 'curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back', right?

"So, what exactly does Mel think you did?" Sky asked hesitantly.

[Jack Holloway]

That was a point. He had thought that Sky was innocent. He had tried to defend him, albeit briefly and unwillingly. A twinge of guilt resounded in his stomach. "Yet another occasion I was a twat to you," he said, smiling guiltily.

For some reason though, what he was saying seemed to be helping a little bit. Just a teeny tiny minuscule little snipsy bit, but still a bit nonetheless. "Well I hope she comes round. If that's not a selfish thing to hope."

Though he bit his lip a little at the question. Was this where Sky flipped and turned against him? He took in a breath, trying to keep calm and level. "She thinks I... Someone attacked Mel and Zoltan. I don't know who, I don't know how, but Mel... She thinks I attacked her. She thinks I fucking attacked her. I think that suggests that we might have a few relationship problems, no?" he added with a bitter laugh.

[Sky Rider]

Sky shrugged. He hadn't exactly had been the nicest of guys to Jack himself. "It's forgotten," he said simply. "Doesn't really matter anymore; it's in the past."

He tried to hide how surprised he really was by staring off at the lake. Mel thought Jack attacked her? That was...strange. Sky didn't exactly know him well, but he doubted that he would attack Melanie. It just seemed wrong; like peanut-butter-and-jelly-not-mixing wrong.

"That's..eherm, that sucks," he stated casually, massaging his shoulder absentmindedly as he casted a sidelong look towards Jack.

"Tough break, man. I guess, well, I don't really think you did it," And why the hell not? It's not like you actually know what he's like, "but, yeah. Good luck convincing Mel. You're gonna need it if you want to change that girl's mind."

He hadn't meant for it to sound snobby or rude, but it wasn't like Sky had anything better to say. He was, after all, a teenage boy; it wasn't like he had a large bank full of deep, inspirational speeches he could deliver at a moment's notice.

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